Improved machine for making clasps from sheet metal



i Nrrn STATES ATENT- einen.

Joan un. DooLrr-rnn, on Artsonia, couuiioricur.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 457,703, dated May 16, 1865.

To @ZZ whom/ may concern:

Be it known that I, J. H.DOOL1TTLE, of Ansonia, ofthe county of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery f r lliaking Glasps from Sheet Metal for Hoopbkirts, &c.; and I do hereby declare that the followingis afull and exact description th erect', reference beinghad to the accoinpanyingdrawings, making part of this application.

My invention relates to that class of machines for cutting ont and stamping up sheet metal in which the material is cut out and formed up by being passed between rotary dies or die-rolls, and has for its objects to perfect the operation of such machinery by various new devices, combinations, and adjustments, so as to render it capable of forming clasps, &c., rapidly and perfectly from a strip of material fed into the machine by a continuous operation.

To these ends my said invention consists in t'ie employment ot' a series of two or more sets ot' rotary dies so constructed and operating that a sheet or strip of stock passed through the several sets of dies will be cut into blanks, which will be formed up into clasps and discharged from the dies, substantially as hereinafter more fully explained.

My invention further consists in making one or both sets of dies adjustable toward and from the other set, for the purpose of registering the blanks formed by the iirst set properly to the second set, as hereinafter more fully described.

M yinvention further consists in the employment, in combination with the gears which drive the rotary dies, of a device for taking up or preventing all play or backlash in said gears, so as to cause the rotary dies to work perfectly together, as hereinafter more fully explained.

My invention further consists in making one or both sets of dies adjustable in the line of their axes for the purpose of setting the sets of dies properly in line in the direction of the line of feed of the materia-l through them, as hereinafter fully sct forth.

My invention further consists inthe employment, in combination with the female of the blank-cutting set of dies, of an intermediate stock-sustaining bar or supporter to sustain the stock pressed into said female die and to clasps from the dies, substantially as hereinafter full y described.

My invention consists, finally, in the use of a detlector, in combination with the irst set of dies, for the purpose of clearing the strip of scrap from the said dies and deiiccting it oft' into a chute, as hereinafter fully explained.

To enable those-skilled in the art to which my invention relates to make and use my sevveral improvements, I will proceed to describe their construction and operation, referring by letters and figures to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is afront elevation ot' a clasp-making machine embracing my said improvements. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section at y y, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a vertical section at z z, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical section at .r x, Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a de.- tail perspective view showing the device for preventing backlash in the die-driving gears.

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view on the line & 85, Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a top view ot' the female die of and its stock-supporting bar, and Fig. 9 is a perspective view ot said supportingbar detached. (Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are drawn to a scale about double that of the preceding iigures.) Fig. 10 is a plan View showing the shape ofthe strip of blanks formed by the first set of dies. Fig. 1l is a perspective view of a finished clasp, and Fig. 12 is a. plan view ot' the strip of stock fed to the machine, showing the method of cutting up said stock. The three last-mentioned figures are drawn to a scale of full size.

Wherever the saine parts of the apparatus appear in the different figures they are indicated by the same figure or letter ot' reference. The red lines in Figs. 1,2, and 7 are used to illustrate the material being operated upon. A is thebed-plate of the machine, which is supported on suitable frame-work or legs, B, and on which are arranged two stands, H and I, in which are hung, in suitable bearin gs, the four shafts 7 S 9 l0, which carry the four rotary dies a b c d. These shafts 7 8 9 l() receive motion in the following manner,viz:

On the back ends of the two lower shafts, 8 10, are two spur gears, Q and It, which mesh into a pinion, P, on the rear end or portion of the main driving-shaft C, and which receives motion from said pinion, (see Figs. 2 and 4,) and the two sets of shafts 7 8 and 9 10 are geared together4 by gears c c2 bii b4. (See Fig. 6.)

l) and E are a fast and a loose pulley on the main shaft C, and to which the main belt is applied.

F is a small pulley, from which a belt is run to a shalt overhead, which belts down to the pulley G of the reel-shaft z. (See Fig. 2.) Said reel-shaft z is hung in a sleeve, M, mounted on two columns, K K, supported from the table J, and carries a reel, L, on which the surplus stock from the dies is wound, as will be presently described. The stand I is adj usted nearer to or farther from the stand H by means of two screwrods, ef. (See Fig. 3.)

y is a bridge or conductor through which the strip of blanks is guided and passes from the dies a b to the dies c d. Arranged near the latter are three clearers, 4 5 3, (see Fig. 1,) the function of which is to disengage from the dies the finished clasps.

1L is the chute or box through which the stri p of scrap passes off, and is the deflector which disengagcs the strip of scrap from the die a and guides it into the chute h.

The table J is supported from the' bed A by means of five columns, T, and has arranged on its top surface an adjustable stop and guide-plate, I, against which one edge of the strip of stock rests while being fed into the machine, said plate Z being secured to the table J by means of screw-bolts r, which pass through slots in the former into the latter.

m is a pressure-wheel', which is formed with a groove in its face and which keeps the strip of stock up against the guide-plate l. Said wheel m is hung on a stud mounted in the end of a vibratory bar, k, which is pivoted at one end to a stud, t, projecting from t/he arm s, (see Figs. l and 2,) and which is provided with a projecting arm or bar, c.

p is a spiral spring, which has one end fastened to said bar c, the other end to one of the. columns K, and which exerts a constant tendencyto pull the arm Ic, with its pressure-wheel m, toward the guide-plate l. The driving-belt is changed from one to the other of the pulleys D E by means of an ordinary shipper, worked by a slide-bar, b3, runnin g under the table J, and provided with a suitable handle, a.

To simplify the drawings I have omitted the shipper, showing only its bar b3 broken off. (See Figs. l and 2.)

w is a plate, which is secured to the stand I,

and is so constructed as to present a thin knife-like portion between the two halves of the female die b, to support the stock while being cut in said die, as will be presently eX- plained. (The peculiar shape and the arrangement with die ZJ of this plate tc is clearly seen at Figs. 7, 8, and 9.)

Z2 are removable sheet-metal covers or cases placed over the sets of dieshafts 7 8 and 9 l() and their gears, to protect them from dirt-,850.y

N is a reel located at any suitable distance from the bed A of the maching, and which is iilled with the strip of stock to supply the machine. The stand H is adjustable crosswise of the bed-plate A, and is retained in position by bolts and nuts 19 20. (See Fig. 5.) The object of this adjustability of one of the stands crosswise of the bed A, or in the direction of the axes of the shafts 9 10, is to enable the operator to set the two sets of dies a b and c d in line in the direction of motion of the material. passing through them. The conductor y is also adjustable in the same directions as stand H.

As before mentioned, the stand I is adjustable lengthwise on the bed A by means of rods e andf. The object of this adjustment to bring the two sets of dies a b and c d nearer together or farther apart is to enable the operator to regulate the distance between the two sets of dies in accordance with size of clasp or kind of article to be made, different kinds of work requiring to be registered differently from the rst to the second sets of dies.

The method of adj usting stand I will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 3, where it will be seen that rod c passes through two fixed ears or small stands, m2 and 03, the former of which, m, has a female screw cut in it to match the thread on rod e, and that rod e comes against the side of stand I, so that by screwing the rod e into its nut m2, said rod will push the stand I on its ways or bearings on the upper surface of bed A. The rod f, however, screws into the stand I, and its collar bears against the stand o2, so that by screwing in the rod f the stand I will be pulled back or caused to move in an opposite direction to that caused by screwing in rod e. Thus it will be seen that bythe alternate turning of the two rods e and f the stand I may be moved toward or from the stand H and be held in position.

In order that the gears Q and R may always remain in perfect mesh with the pinion P while the distance between the centers of the former two is variable, the shaft G of pinion P is hung in curved slots a2 (see Fig. 1) and connecting-links o, the said slots being made in the arcs of circles struck from the center of shaft 10 and the said links being connected to the shaft 8, so that, while the distance between centers of gears Q and R is changed, the distance between each of said centers and center of pinion P remains always the same.

The greatest difculty heretofore encounr 47,704 y p a tered in the practical working rotating or circular dies has been found in overcoming the play or backlash of the driving-gears, which will prevent the dies from traveling perfectly together during their revolutions, for even if the gears were made to work perfectly, Awithout any play, they would soon wear so as to spoil the accurate working of the dies together. The device which l have employed to et'fectually overcome this difliculty is clearly illustrated at Fig. G, where 7 and S are the two shafts, on the ends ot' which are dies matching each other. On the shaft 7 are keyed two gears, c and b4, which mesh into two gears, c2 and b3, on lower shaft, S, but only one of said gears-viz., cg-is fast on shaft 8, the other, b3, being loose or free to turn on shaft 8. From one side of gear c2 there projects a lug, r2, and from the adjacent side of gear b3 projects a lug, s2. In the latter is a set-screw, x, which passes through it- 'and bears against the surface of lug r2. It will now be observed that the gears c' and b4, being both fast on shaft 7, and the gear b3 being loose on shaft 8, the result of turning in the screw as will be the wedging in opposite directions of the gear c2 (with its shaft) and the gear b3, the former being pressed inthe direction indicated by the red arrow and the latter in the direction `shown by the lblue arrow, and it will be seen that the effect of this operation is to bring the opposite sides of the teeth of gears c2 and b3 in contact with the surfaces of the teeth of gears c b4, or in effect to make the teeth of gears c b3 completely till the spaces between teeth of gears c b4, and thus make the gears work perfectly together, and as the surfaces of the teeth wear, the screw x is made to keep them always in contact. (The red arrows may indicate the directions of motions of thegears.) 0f course a single gear equal in length of face to the two, c and b4, may be employed in lieu of them. There would be anatural tendency in the material cut out between the dies a and b to cling to the female die b. To overcome this and cause the strip of blanks-such, for instance, as shown at Fig. 10--to properly leave the die b, I have employed a device, which I call an intermediate supporting and disengaging plat-e, w 1.02. (See Figs. 7, 8, and 9.) 'Ihis plate, as seen, is formed with a projecting thin portion, and is so arranged as that sai d thin part w2 (see Figs. 7, 8) comes in between the two halves or opposite edges ofthe two parts of die b, its top edge coming about level with the top or highest point in the circumference of said die b but the upper edge of the portion to2 of said plate has a slight depression at about where the dies a and b come together, equal in depth to the thickness of the metal being cut out, and said portion 102 connects with the bridge y, which forms a continuation ot' the supporting-surface on which the strip. of blanks rides to the next set of dies, c d. The bridge y is so made as to properly accommod-ate the strip of blanks and so that said strip can be pushed through it--to the next set ot' dieswithout possibility of being crimped up, and said bridge is so formed that its top portion extends in under the die a., of a width not more than the width of blankstrip, and prevents any possibility of the strip of blanks following up on the surface of a, and affords a guide for the upper surface. of the strip of blanks from the time it comes from between dies a and b.

rIhe general operation of the whole machine will be readily understood from a brief eXpla nation, after what has been said of the construction and operation of the several parts.

The supply-reel N, being lled with a strip 0f stock of the desired length and width, the 0pi erator starts the stock through the rs't set ot dies, generally moving the driving-shaft c by hand, and, then, pulling the shipper-handle u, sets the machine running and guides the end of surplus stock onto reel L, where it there continues to wind automatically. As the strip of stock passes over the table J it is confined edgewise between the guideplate Z and the pressure-roll m. The eect of the tirst set of dies through which the stock passes is to divide it into three parts, (as illustrated at Fig. 12, the red portion being a strip of scrap, the blue a strip of claspblanks, and the white the surplus stock, which is removed on reel L, and afterward run through the machine again.) These three portions of the stock, respectively numbered in red 1 2 3 at Figs. 12, 7, 12, are separated from each other upon leaving the dies a b. The strip of scrap 3.. follows up on the face of die a until disengaged by the deflector i and guided into the chute h, through which it passes, and thence oit' from the machine. The strip of blanks 1 passes on through the bridge Y, (see Figs. 1 and 7,) and thence through the dies c d, where the blanks are cut apart and formed up into clasps (like that shown at Fig.11) and discharged into a sheetmetal hood or conductor, through which they fall into a receptacle provided forthem. The strip of surplus stock 2 passes around outside of `chute h, against detlector a3, and thence onto reel L. After the whole length of the stock has passed through the machine, the operator takes the coil from reel L, and,

placing it on reel N, starts the end into the machine, as before, when another strip of scrap is cut therefrom and discharged, another strip of blanksis cut off and made into clasps, and the surplus stock is again wound on reel L, and so on till the entire strip of stock is made into clasps. The length and width 0f the stock will, of course, be whatever is convenient or desirable.

In running the machine which I have built and successfully worked, (and whichis now running,) I have generally used strips of metal manufactured about six inches wide, and have run it through the machine about eleventimes in making such clasps as seen at Fig. l1, turning out 2,250 finished clasps per minute.

It will be understood that various modifications may be made in the construction of my' .in the art can make and use it What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ls-

1. Thev combination of two or more sets of rot-ary dies to cut out andlform the blanks, When constructed, arranged, and opera-ting substantially as described.

2. Making the sets of dies adjustable, substantially as described, forthe purpose of registering differently and adapting the machine to different kinds of Work, as hereinbefore described. y

3. Making one or both sets of the above described dies adjustable in the direction of their axes, substantially as described, for the purpose of settling the dies in line, one set with another, as set forth.

4. The employment, in combination With the female die I), of a sustaining and disengaging guide-plate, wz, or its equivalent, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. In combination with the rotary dies c d, the series of clearinglingers 45 6, the Whole arranged and operating as specified, for the purpose set forth.

6. In combination With the cutting-out dies a b, the clearer and chute hand deector i, arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

JOHN H. DOOLITTLE. [L s] Witnesses:

THos. WALLACE, J r., M. DE LACY. 

